When the words fame and fortune came up, Zeta usually associated fortune to be the more prominent of the two.
After all, with all of the wealth one earned from fortune, one could literally buy just about everything. Fame was important to gather a large following and all, but without the funds to actually put behind that fame she was no better than a bard using her words to con people out of their hopes and dreams. Not to mention, but sometimes one could be famed for not so good reasons, such as being infamous.
But nope. In this book, it said fame was the more important of the two.
Travelling south through the Perl Swamp overnight, Zeta made it to the destination of Costa del Moore. An impressively large fishing village bordering the ocean, this town was known to be where the mermaids made their fateful last stand against the Sahaguin, before the Shark King Malahad unleashed his plague of undeath. Nowadays, after the rotten corpses of the town's former residents were cleared it now served as a memoir of what was lost, with an impressive library being made as the centerpiece holding all of the knowledge that the Mermaids once knew.
In a town like this, Zeta couldn't exactly keep wearing her dress. Going to a market vendor, she sold the dress and swapped it out for a roguish cloak and a chain undershirt, alongside some short shorts. She had already managed to loot a pair of fitting shoes from one of the bandits she ran into during her nightly random encounters, so as she put them on to complete the set she felt like a whole new woman.
It left her with 5000 G left, and after one stop at the Billowing Toad she asked around to hear who would help her get the most fame.
The answer?
"So you wish to recruit Asha Baskerville?" Madason asked, staring down the new adventurer as he raised his bell.
"Yep!"
Ringing the bell thrice, a magic circle appeared from the floor which was infused with the sparks from the bell. Shortly after the third ring, a rather rich woman with black hair and a top hat manifested from nowhere, spinning her pocket staff in a charismatic manner. Asha Baskerville was the heir to the Baskerville Circus, a travelling circus boat that sailed all across the ocean. Zeta had already seen the boat floating just outside of town earlier, but she definitely didn't have the money for a ticket proper.
To her surprise, though she wasn't even shocked about being summoned.
"Heh, finally someone calls. I was actually on my way here, you know. Was gonna ask for a whiskey on the rocks and some cheese curds if I could help myself, but looks like I got to talk to this rube who just hired me."
"Rube?" Zeta asked, confused as to the meaning of the word.
"It means... esteemed individual. Yeah, let's go with that."
For the record, Asha looked rather stunning in her uniform. Her long-sleeved magician's suit was a crop top, which revealed her runner's physique right beneath it. She was rather lean and tall, and although she wasn't particularly muscular she looked like she could win in a gladiatorial match if she wanted to. Not to mention, but her long black jeans helped complete the look, which had at least three belts on them based on the number of buckles. Complete with the top hat, she really was the epitome of a stage magician.
"Can I... say something?" Zeta asked, as Asha slowly walked around her. As she passed by, she tapped the thief with her staff as she tried gathering information on the woman who had just hired her.
"You may."
"I... mainly just hired you cause I heard from the tavern guests that you were the best at earning fame? Is that true?"
"Is that... do you know who you are talking to?" Bursting out into laughter, Asha leaned against a bar chair and slammed her other hand against the bar table, all the while Madason stared motionlessly at the wall. "I am Asha Baskerville! My father, Fieri built the Baskerville ship while I was still in diapers, and used it to carry the heroes of thirty years ago to reach the gates of the underworld, situated in the middle of the ocean! Besides Alveric and Zeta, he's basically the most famous human in the world! So of course I fucking know about how to earn fame!"
"Besides..." Asha said, leaning close to the girl's ears. "If my dad made your mom famous, I can make you famous."
"H-how do you know..." Zeta said, shocked that this stage woman knew who she really was. Did she seriously pick it up just from a few taps on the body?
"Well, two things. One, my dad told me all the stories about your mom and all of her successes and failures. That includes the story of your birth, and how you were nearly stolen by imps summoned by the Cult of the Damned. And two... well, I can recognize the signature red rings that your family possesses in your eyes. May I suggest getting contacts next time you make a disguise?"
Looking around, Zeta sighed in relief that this conversation wasn't really being focused on in the Fairy's Fountain Tavern. "Can you keep quiet about all this, please? I don't want the local guards to exactly try to return me to my mom if able."
"Heh, your secret's safe with me... for now." Asha said, as she sat down on the stool she leaned on earlier and motioned for Zeta to sit next to her. "Alright, now before we discuss fame I gotta be front with you. My specialty is stage magic. That has to do with misdirection, illusions, and summoning lions to tear into enemy monsters. Outta battle, I can also use my stage tricks to distract people... and to give you one hell of an entrance for the people."
"Hell of an entrance? What do you mean by that?"
"Heh, you really don't keep up with the news, do you?" Rolling out a map of the world, Asha pulled out a miniature version of her rod and tapped on a kingdom on the other side of the ocean, which appeared to be surrounded by oil and... weird metal like creations? What were those metal monstrosities?
"This is Anarkand, home of the great Dwarven Clans. Ironbeard Foundry may be on this continent, but they ultimately report to the big guys on the iron throne. Or at least they would until recently. In the past month though, following a visit from a reported angelic creature the entire council has been turned into solid gold statues, incapable of moving. Since then, Ambassador Bronzeaxe has been acting as a interim leader, but the Dwarven peoples are looking for a way to free their council of five."
"Are... are we going to free them?" Zeta asked, confused for a bit.
"We're going to try, at least. But first we're going to need a good impression so that we can make good favor with Bronzeaxe." Pulling a card out from inside her sleeves, she turned it over to reveal a shiny yellow potion on the other side. "This is the Sundrop Elixer. Legends state that such an elixer comes from a fountain that flows once every year, on the Summer Solstice. It creates about ten potions worth of this elixer, and these elixers are said to be able to cure everything short of death. This includes petrification, which these councilmen are probably under."
"Where's the fountain then?"
"Thankfully, it's on a island that's on the way to Anarkand. Problem is though that it's guarded by vile Sahaguin, who will do anything to keep their wonder cure ready. The Summer Solstice is in a month, and it takes an entire week to get to Anarkand. So what we need to do is get to Bronzeaxe first, and really impress the Dwarves with one of the best performances I can plan. Then, once we have their support we'll raid the Sahaguins, secure the elixer and become famed across the land!"
"How are we getting there, anyhow?" Zeta asked, innocently. "Are you able to sail the Baskerville Circus?"
"Pfft, no." Asha stated bluntly, breaking Zeta's hope. "My dad owns that ship, not me. And they're sailing west to the Lemlime Desert next, not to Anarkand. I was hoping YOU had the idea of how we were going to get there, considering you're the one wanting fame..."
At that moment, Zeta was a bit dejected. This woman had one of the most complex yet thought out plans she had ever seen, and yet it fell apart all because they didn't even have a ride to another continent! And now the pressure was put on her to think of a solution, rather than having to rely on her new partner. Surely there had to be something she could do.
"We could... uh... uh..."
"Come on, actually think!" Asha said, slamming her fist down. "I'm good with plans but your the one who bought my contract! You can't have done that and not have the simple knowledge of how to solve a simple thing such as oceanic travel!"
"Uh... uh... we could... sneak onto a ship?"
"Ah, finally. There's actually a couple of ships that sail to and from Anarkand on the daily. If you can get on one of those and make sure it's actually going to Anarkand next, then it'll be easy sailing."
Sighing in relief, Zeta was at the very least grateful that they at least had a way to attempt to get to Anarkand. Sneaking onto a ship was technically illegal, but not only did they have a noble goal (at least in Zeta's mind) at the end, but they were both masters of hiding as well. It was going to be easy to find the perfect ship to sail on, so long as they could get a good understanding of where there weren't any people on the ship.
After loading up 4000 G worth of healing potions and spell scrolls just in case, they climbed onto...
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